"Die..."
In that instant, Lancelot's entire body tensed up like a leopard about to pounce, suddenly unleashing astonishing power!
His arm, still gripping Diamante's sword, gave a fierce, powerful pull.
The immense force surged like a raging torrent.
At this moment, Diamante was completely stunned by the sudden turn of events.
His brain had no time to react.
In the blink of an eye, he felt as if he were being pulled by an invisible, terrifying force, flying helplessly toward Lancelot at high speed.
Panicking, Diamante instinctively tried to break free from this dreadful force, but it was already too late.
Driven by the instinct to survive, he had no choice but to release his grip on the sword hilt.
Thus, the sword that originally belonged to him fell effortlessly into Lancelot's hands.
Without hesitation, Lancelot caught the rapier, spun, and hurled it forward with all his might.
In an instant, the sword transformed into a flash of cold light, shooting through the air with lightning speed.
Empowered by Lancelot's terrifying superhuman strength, the blade seemed to gain limitless momentum, its velocity so astonishing it resembled a bolt of lightning tearing through the night sky.
Buffalo, high in the air, had no time to react to what was happening.
While still in a daze, the swiftly flying sword pierced straight through his rotating body like a phantom.
"Thud..."
With a dull, wet sound, a stream of crimson blood gushed from Buffalo's mouth.
Simultaneously, struck by the immense force, his body shot straight upward like a cannonball, his rotation stopping instantly.
In the air, Buffalo's body continued to rise until it reached a certain height, where the momentum waned, and he began to slow down.
However, by then, he had already lost consciousness, falling from the sky like a bird struck by an arrow.
"Buffalo!"
Baby 5, still on the pirate ship, couldn't help but cry out in alarm, her face etched with worry.
Immediately, she leaped down, rushing toward the spot where Buffalo was falling.
"Colors Trap: Tranquil Green!"
Miss Goldenweek, who had been lying in wait in the shadows as planned, wouldn't miss such an opportunity.
With a swift stroke of her brush on her palette, a stream of green paint transformed into a sharp arrow and shot toward the frantic Baby 5.
Caught completely off guard, Baby 5 was hit directly in the chest.
Anyone touched by the "Tranquil Green" paint would feel an overwhelming sense of calmness and a sudden, inexplicable desire to drink tea.
Thus, in the next moment, the frantic Baby 5, who had been rushing to save someone, instantly calmed down.
Her eyes became serene and peaceful, her brow smoothing over.
Shortly after, she walked over to Miss Goldenweek's side, sat down, and quietly began... drinking tea.
"This..."
Diamante's eyes widened in shock.
He hadn't yet recovered from the terrifying, raw power Lancelot had unleashed when he saw Buffalo pierced through by his own sword, his fate unknown.
Then, he witnessed this bizarre, utterly surreal scene.
It sent chills down his spine.
A cold shiver shot up from his tailbone to his head, causing sweat to bead on his forehead.
This eerie, mind-altering ability reminded him of someone: Sugar, of their Donquixote Family.
Though their powers differed, they were equally bizarre and frightening.
But immediately, he felt his heart leap into his throat.
It was as if he had become prey spotted by a hawk.
Life and death hung in the balance.
"Swish..."
He snapped his head around to see the towering, dragon-scaled Marine Rear Admiral slowly emerging from behind Mr. 3's wax wall.
The admiral was staring at him with intense, cold hostility.
A single glance was enough to make Diamante shudder.
"Folding Portable Weapon: Hammer!"
As a seasoned pirate executive with extensive combat experience, Diamante knew that fleeing was the wisest choice in such an unfavorable situation.
But escape was impossible.
That left only one option: a fight to the death.
Seizing the initiative was crucial.
So, he pulled a massive, folded hammer from his coat and swung it fiercely at Lancelot.
Diamante had a habit of using his Fruit ability to transform various heavy weapons into lightweight, foldable, cloth-like forms for storage, then deploying them instantly in battle.
In the original story, this very move had shattered Rebecca's helmet.
But for Lancelot, it was far from enough.
Lancelot watched the hammer crashing toward him, his face full of disdain.
"Diamante, is it? You're not qualified to run wild on my turf."
As soon as the words fell, Lancelot directly caught the incoming hammer with his scaled, clawed hand.
At the same time, Ryuō—advanced Armament Haki—had already Entangled around his hand.
"Bang..."
The next second, Lancelot suddenly exerted his force, releasing the Armament Haki outward and into the weapon.
He directly shattered the interior of the iron hammer, thereby destroying the entire weapon from the inside out.
It crumbled into metal fragments in his grip.
"How is this possible?"
Seeing this, Diamante was so shocked his eyes nearly popped out, and he let out an exclamation.
However, his reaction was swift.
With a burst of strength from his legs, he retreated seven or eight meters, watching Lancelot with a wary, terrified expression.
At the same time, he pulled another weapon from his chest.
This time, it was a sword.
It closely resembled the one Lancelot had taken from him earlier, also a rapier.
His other hand wasn't idle either.
"Death Enjambre!"
He pulled out several party poppers, shooting countless colorful paper scraps into the sky.
The lightweight paper pieces, high in the air, suddenly transformed back into sharp, thorny iron balls, then descended as an impenetrable, deadly rain of metal.
"All flash and no substance... Busoshoku: Koka!"
The next moment, Lancelot coated his entire body with Armament Haki.
The falling iron rain was like ordinary raindrops, pinging uselessly off his hardened, black-scaled skin, utterly incapable of harming him in the slightest.
"This..." Diamante couldn't help but widen his eyes again, as he had only seen this level of full-body Armament Haki on one person before: their executive, Vergo.
At this moment, he even felt somewhat numb.
Because, ever since the tavern, he had lost count of how many times he had been shocked by these "East Blue" nobodies.
He tightened his grip on the new sword in his hand.
Gritting his teeth, he thought, 'Life or death hinges on this one move.'
"Hira Hira no Mi: Picado!"
Diamante transformed the very ground around him into a lightweight, cloth-like state, making the stone terrain flutter like large fabric pieces in the wind.
This was designed to prevent his opponent from maintaining balance, causing them to lose their footing and fall, thereby robbing them of the ability to counterattack or significantly impairing their combat effectiveness.
"Interesting..."
Feeling the ground ripple and wave beneath his feet, Lancelot curled his lips into a smile tinged with disdain.
"Are you underestimating me too much?" He simply used Geppo to hover an inch above the flapping ground, completely negating the ability.
"Army Bandera (Half-Moon Funeral)!"
Diamante's expression remained cold and stern, offering no response.
He gripped the gleaming longsword tightly with both hands and abruptly raised it upward.
In an instant, a surge of his own immense power erupted from within him, converging entirely onto the blade.
Then, with a swift, powerful swing of his arm, the sword shot out like lightning, unleashing a fierce, coiling storm of sword energy.
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